Closure operating mechanism



DCC. 4, 1945. w, D .FERRIS CLOSURE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Sepfc. 8, 1941 6732.5 @fm/a@ BYJC Patented Dec. 4, 1945 arrose` CLOSURE OPERATING MECHANISM William D. Ferris, Sterling, Ill., assignor to Frantz Manufacturing Co., Sterling, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 8, 1941, Serial No. 410,029

Claims.

This invention relates to mechanism for operating doors for various types of closures including garage doors, particularly of the type wherein the structure has a frame providing a doorway opening and wherein the door is of the rigid construction shiftable from a substantially vertical closed position to a substantially horizontal overhead position.

The invention is particularly adapted for operation with the foregoing type of door wherein the framework has a substantially horizontal overhead track and the upper corners of the door are provided with rollers to run in the track together with one or more pivoted arms, preferably two on each side of the framework, which are pivotally mounted on fixed bearings disposed within the plane of the door when the latter is in closed position, and wherein the outer end of each arm is pivotally attached to the lower portion of the door.

The invention has among its objects the provision of spring means operative for raising the door to overhead open position so that when the door is in closed position it may be given a slight manual upward and outward swing, at which time the spring mechanism is operative to shift the door to complete open position; to provide a compact economical easily assembled mechanism providing not only a pivotal bearing, an actuating member for the arm which is pivotally connected to the door but also providing a compact spring assembly which swings the arm and door to raised position; to provide a coil spring type of power mechanism, preferably adjustable, operative upon the inner end or pivotal point of the lifting arm of the door of the foregoing type for raising the door from substantially Vertical closed position to substantially horizontal overhead position; to provide these and other objects of the invention as will be apparent from a perusal of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a garage door in open position taken on the line I-I of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed section of the door operating device taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view the same as Figure 3, showing the position of the parts when the door is in closed position;

Figure 5 is a plan sectional View of the door operating device taken on 'the line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the spring housing.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the invention as shown is adapted to any type of structure providing a frame 2 forming a door opening in combination with a door 4 of the rigid preferably one-piece type which when in closed position is disposed substantially vertically as shown at 6 in dotted lines, and full lines in Figure 2, and which when open occupies an overhead substantially horizontal position, as shown in Figures l and 2.

In this type of door the frame is provided with an overhead track 8 which is generally substantially horizontally disposed but which may also be slightly inclined downwardly from front to rear so as to maintain the door in open position when once opened, and in which track the rollers l run. These rollers are fixed to the upper opposed corners of the inside face of the door.

Means is provided for automatically raising the door from its closed substantially vertical p0- sition to its overhead open position, comprising one or more arms, preferably two arms I2 and I4, each of which is pivotally mounted at one end upon a short pivotal pin I6 rotatably in a stationary bearing I8 bolted to a bracket 2D having an angularly disposed ange 22 bolted to a metallic strip 23 fastened vertically on the rear face of the door jamb on each side of the door opening, by means of suitable fasteners 24.

In addition' the rear face of the door has a rigid metallic strip 25 which when the door is in vertical closed position extends vertically downwardly to meet the upper portion of the strip Z3, whereby to substantially close the opening between the door and the jamb.

It is to be noted that cooperating with the open face of the shell-like casing 36 is a plate-like member or cover 54 which is held in assembled position by means of a suitable lock washer and nut. It will be understood that when the door is in substantially vertical closed position the coil spring 26 is put under tension tending to raise the door but due to the fact that the pin I6 is substantially over the pivotal point I3 the door tends to remain closed, but when the door is raised to open position under the impulse of the spring it moves to the overhead position wherein the pivotal point I3 is over and toward the inner portion of the closure above the pin IS, tending to maintain the door in open position and in this position the coil spring will be expanded.

The pivotal pins I6 have the arms I2 and I4 xedly connected thereto by any suitable means as shown in Figure 5, so that the arm is adapted to rotate with the pin I6 under the impulse of the spring now to be described.

The spring 2'6 is of the coil type and has its inner end rigidly iixed by means of a fastener 28 to the pivotal pin I6. The spring is coiled and has its outer end 30 connected at 32 to the peripheral flange 34 of the cupshaped housing 36 having a central opening 38 rotatably tting in the circular groove 40 on the hub-like portion 42 of the bracket I8. The shells 36 have covers 54.

Means is provided for holding the shell 36 from rotation comprising another bracket 44 xed to the stationary bracket 20. This bracket 44 is provided with spaced ilanges 4B and 48 within which rides a spring impelled pin 50 normally projecting inwardly and having an end 52 to engage within any of the holes 32 spaced around the peripheral ange 34 of the shell 36, whereby to hold the shell from rotation. By pulling back upon the head of this spring, the shell may be wound clockwise or counterclockwise to change the adjustment of the spring. When the spring is put under tension since the shell is held stationary bythe pin 50 the outer end of the sprint,r will be anchored and the tension of the spring will tend to turn the shaft I6 to which the inner end of the spring is connected in the required direction and since tire pin is connected rigidly to the arm l2 the arm will likewise be swung in the required direction, whereby tending to raise the door from the substantially vertical closed position to the overhead substantially horizontal overhead position, the rollers I moving in the track 8 as the door swings upwardly.

Inasmuch as there are two of these shells 36, and spring mechanisms, one for each arm and disposed on opposite sides of the door, it is readily to be seen that suicient power is provided for lifting the door, and in view of the simple adjustment of the shell the spring may be tensioned the exact amount to give the proper lifting action.

It is to be noted that in the raised position of the door the pivotal point I3 connected with the arm I2 of the door 4 is substantially over the center of the pin I6, whereby the door is maintained in raised position. The door is returned by pulling downwardly on it so that it may return to vertical position wherein the lower pivotal point I3 will then substantially lie directly under the pvs oted pin I6 so that the door will be maintained in vertical position. In this position the door will be maintained in substantially closed position.

It will be noted that when the door is given an initial pull outwardly and upwardly it will tend to move the arm to such a position that the spring will be useful to accomplish the upward shifting movement.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed herein but is capable of other modifications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto.

The invention is hereby claimed:

l. In combination with a structure having a frame forming a door opening, and a one-piece door therefor, and track means on said frame and rollers on the upper portion of the door running in the track means, together with means forming a stationary bracket disposed on the structure to the rear of the inner face of the door when the door is in vertical closed position, a device for raising the door comprising an arm, means connected to an inner portion of the arm and forming a pivot, said pivot being mounted in said support for angular movement, the outer portion of the arm being connected with the lower inner face of the door, and coil spring means coiled about the axis of turning of said pivot and having one end connected to a stationary anchorage, the other end of the coil spring means being connected to the pivotal means of the arm in such a manner as to tend to turn the arm arcuately to raise the door from closed to overhead open position.

2. In combination with an enclosure having a frame forming a door opening, and a rigid door therefor adapted in closed position to be disposed substantially vertically with respect to the opening and to swing to an overhead substantially horizontal open position, together with means forming a pair of spaced stationary supports disposed to the rear of the door when in closed position, a device for raising the door comprising an arm pivotally mounted on each one of said stationary supports, the outer end of the arm being pivotally connected to a lower side face portion of the door, and spring means concentrically surrounding the pivotal axis of said arm, one portion of said spring operating on said arm tending arcuately to turn it, and a remote portion of said spring having a stationary anchorage.

3. For use with an enclosure having a frame forming a door opening, and a rigid door therefor adapted in closed position to be disposed substantially .vertically with respect to the opening and to swing to an overhead substantially horizontal open position, together with means forming a pair of lspaced stationary supports disposed to the rear of the door when in closed position, each support including a bracket provided with a bearing, a device for raising the door comprising a pin rotatable in said bracket, a coil spring having its inner end fastened to said pin, the outer end of said spring having a stationary anchorage, and an arm rigidly attached to said pin and rotatable therewith, the outer end of said arm having a pivotal connection to the lower inside face of said door.

4. For use with an enclosure having a frame forming a door opening, and a rigid door therefor adapted in closed position to be disposed substantially vertically with respect to the opening and to swing to an overhead substantially horizontal open position, together with means forming va pair of spaced stationary supports disposed to the rear of the door when in closed position, each supportincluding a bracket provided with a bearing, a device for raising the door comprising a pin horizontally rotatable in said bracket, a coil spring having its inner end fastened to said pin, the outer end of said spring having a stationary anchorage, and an arm rigidly attached to said pin and rotatable therewith, the outer end of saidarm having a pivotal connection to the lower inside face of said door, said anchorage for said spring comprising a shell-like housing enclosing the spring and a portion of said pin, said shell-like housing having adjustable means fox' adjusting the tension of the spring.

5. For use with a structure having a frame providing a door opening, and a rigid one-piece door therefor, and an overhead track mechanism providing a pair of tracks disposed substantially horizontally, and a roller on the inside upper portion of each door adapted to engage in each track, together with a pair of stationary supports mounted on the frame of the door opening on each side thereof and extending inwardly of the structure, each support comprising a stationary pivotal connection between the outer end of the arm and the door will be substantially directly below the pivotal mounting means for the arm, and coil spring means having one end stationarily mounted on said supporting means and the other end connected to and operative upon the inner end of said arm and coiled in the closed position of the door in such a way as to tend to raise the door to substantially overhead open position.

WILLIAM D. FERRIS. 

